From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
(Numbers 21:4-9)
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“An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and venomous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.” If that sounds familiar to some of you, it’s because it’s the plot of a 2006 movie that starred Samuel L. Jackson and was called “Snakes On A Plane.” It sounded a bit silly, and I was able to resist the temptation to watch it for several years, but about five years ago I finally succumbed. I shouldn’t have. It was indeed a silly, silly movie. It wasn’t a bad movie. It was just a silly movie. Even a dull movie after a while, once you got used to the basic concept – THAT THERE ARE VENOMOUS SNAKES LOOSE ON A PLANE BITING PEOPLE! And sometimes they bit them in – shall we say – sensitive places. ‘Nuff said. The appeal of the movie – or, at least, the hook that was supposed to bring people in (with apologies to Samuel L. Jackson) – was the snakes. People have a strange fascination with snakes. We don’t necessarily like them – but we’re fascinated by them. From the story of the talking serpent in the Garden of Eden, to Cleopatra’s suicide by asp, to strange snake handling churches in the backwoods of West Virginia to any number of movies that have featured snakes – they fascinate us. They creep a lot of us out. Last year, when we had our “Blessing of the Animals” service, I set a rule – I would take care of all the puppies, kittens and bunnies and Karen could have the spiders, lizards and snakes. That seemed fair! We’re going to be doing that service again this year – same rules! Actually, I’m not really afraid of snakes, but I’m not especially fond of them either. They are kind of creepy – and we do like to feature them in creepy stories.
This weird passage from Numbers popped up this week in the lectionary. It was irresistible. How often does a Christian preacher get to preach from the Book of Numbers, after all? And it fits in quite well with our general attitude to snakes. One commentator that I read a few days ago actually said that this little six verse passage is one of the creepiest passages you’ll find anywhere in the Bible, and suggested that it seemed on the surface at least to be more appropriate to share on the Sunday before Halloween rather than midway through Lent. But here it is – midway through Lent.
In all honesty – the opportunity to use Numbers aside – the natural temptation for any preacher (and for most Christians) I think, is to look at this passage, shake our heads and pass it by. I mean, on the surface it defies both good theology and good science. From the point of view of theology – why would God send poisonous snakes against his own people? Where’s the love? And from a scientific point of view – how can looking at a bronze statue of a snake on a pole heal anybody? Where’s the anti-venom? Move on – seriously. But the thing that really intrigues me about this passage is that the authors of the New Testament – at least one of them – didn’t move on. This story makes an appearance in the Gospel of John, in one of the most beloved passages of the Bible. John 3:16 tells us that “...God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Heartwarming, indeed! But I’ll bet that most people don’t know what comes right before John 3:16. So here’s John 3:14-15: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” There’s the story. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness ...” And it’s connected to one of the most beloved verses in the Gospels. More about that later. For now, back to … “A Snake On A Pole.”
Last week, Jesus overturned some tables and whipped a few people. I pointed out how important it was for us to connect every now and then with that uncomfortable image of Jesus if we were really going to be able to understand Jesus. Today’s passage took place long before the birth of Jesus. But the discomfort is the same. Traveling with God as the Hebrews were doing was not a comfortable experience. God caused terror. God’s power terrorized the Egyptians and the Hebrews alike. The relationship of the ancient Hebrews to God was a cautious one at best. God could do great things no doubt, but still the Hebrews wandered and faced danger and sometimes seemed to be getting nowhere. They complained incessantly almost from the moment that they left Egypt. As they did often they complained that God and Moses had brought them into the wilderness to die, and then they made a really strange statement: “there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” That’s like saying “the food we don’t have is really bad.” The point is that the people had food. God had provided for them. They just didn’t like what God had provided for them. And so – on came the poisonous snakes.
Were the poisonous snakes a punishment from God? I have my doubts – and it really depends on how you read the passage. But however you choose to think about the snakes, the one point that the story makes very clearly is that there are always consequences to living life in a way that shows no appreciation and no thankfulness for what we have. To never be satisfied; to always be demanding more – this is not the life we were called to. God’s people are called to a life of gratitude and contentment. Contentment – which Paul speaks about in his letters – is important. To be content by its very nature implies that you may not get everything you want, but that you can accept with gratitude what you have. And when we aren’t content, our lives aren’t much fun. In the wilderness the people of God weren’t content. They didn’t like what God had given them. And just maybe the snakes were of their own making – by their lack of contentment and by their constant complaining about what they didn’t have rather than their focus on what they did have – we don’t have any food and our food is lousy anyway – they were filling themselves with venom; they were sapping the contentment out of their lives – and to not be content is really not to trust in God. Finally, God intervened. “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live,” God said to Moses. Not all the problems were solved. The people apparently were still being bitten by snakes; still full of venom – but as Elizabeth Webb said, “God [didn’t] remove the snakes, but [provided] a means for healing in the midst of danger. God brings healing precisely where the sting is the worst.” It was the very presence of the snakes and the bites (however you want to interpret the story) that made God’s presence and power obvious. I believe it was Oswald Chambers who wrote that adversity doesn’t come in spite of faith; adversity is a sign of faith. And so we fast forward a few centuries.
God’s people were again facing adversity – because adversity is a sign of faith. There were no snakes, but there were oppressive Romans and arrogant religious leaders and sin and darkness was becoming ever more apparent. And now, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” It seems strange to be comparing Jesus to a snake – but in this context it is Jesus himself who does it – not me! And his point was clear. The people were reminded of an earlier time, when things seemed hopeless and their ancestors felt abandoned – but when God found a way to heal them and once again push them forward. And while at the time they may not have understood exactly what was meant by the Son of Man being lifted up – they would certainly have understood that somehow the Son of Man would heal them and push them forward against whatever odds they faced.
A snake on a pole may seem like a poor substitute for the Son of Man on a cross, but the one pointed directly to the other. Both remind us that God acts in mysterious and unexpected ways that we can’t control. With God, a poisonous snake on a pole can become a sign of healing, and with God a dead man on a cross can become a sign of new and abundant life.
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